Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Heads Up: Morning headlines for April 3

It could cost as much as $120,000 to figure out how former Police Chief Nate Harper redirected $70,000 in city funds, says the Tribune-Review. "If they'd like to give me $90,000, I'm sure I could put it to good use," says City Council President Darlene Harris. Which sounds like exactly the kind of mindset that got us into this mess, doesn't it? (Just kidding, Ms. Harris: I know what you mean.) I guess it's sort of ironic that rooting out the alleged crimes here costs more than the alleged crimes themselves, but what are you gonna do? Insist that city employees in the future take more of our money?

Could an expansion of the light-rail system maybe, possibly, take place sometime in the indeterminate future? Signs point to "perhaps".

A Pew Survey shows some ambivalence about natural-gas drilling, at least when you look on the national scale ... opinions diverge sharply based on party affiliation and proximity to the drilling jobs. (Stories like this one probably don't help the industry's cause.) The poll's most depressing finding: Despite years of increasing temperatures -- and a growing consensus that global warming is taking place -- fewer Americans now feel like it's a serious problem. We're gonna get what we deserve, folks.

And if you're looking for something to do tonight, you might want to pick up tickets to a mayoral debate sponsored by WPTS-FM, Pitt's radio station. I hope to be there myself, so agoraphobes and people with more active social lives can follow the action on my Twitter account.